


MARC AND NATHANIEL

by OminousPredictions



Series: CONSEQUENCES [6]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Badass Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:27:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27569779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OminousPredictions/pseuds/OminousPredictions
Summary: Sixth in the CONSEQUENCES series.After trying to take credit for Nathaniel and Marc getting a guest spot at a comic convention, Lila goes a step further by stealing their next issue and trying to pass it off as her own work. But Nathaniel loves only two things in life, his art and his boyfriend, and to mess with either is to mean death.
Relationships: Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Max Kanté/Lê Chiến Kim
Series: CONSEQUENCES [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1830691
Comments: 59
Kudos: 460
Collections: Lila salt/exposed fics, MarcNath Fics!





	MARC AND NATHANIEL

Nathaniel walked into school deliriously happy, for once. He had a wonderful boyfriend, Ms. Mendeleiev had actually smiled at him yesterday ( his new C+ grade in science courtesy of Marc’s thorough tutoring), their comic was a bestseller and, last night, he’d received a phone call confirming everything he’d been dearly hoping for. And now he was looking for Marc because he had to tell him this wondrous news, news that had him grinning ear to ear and which suddenly made the whole world such a wonderful, fantastical place. It made him want to dance and to sing, a feeling he hadn’t had since Marc first asked him out. Alix had called him “high on life energy” and told him to stay away from her lest he infect her with his sickeningly contagious cheerfulness. Normally, Nathaniel would have agreed with her, preferring to be silent and brooding, but today was an exception.

He didn’t think it was possible, but the grin on his face grew even wider at the sight of Marc, to the extent that his jaw felt sore. Marc was with Max and Kim, painting the smaller boy’s nails red whilst the bigger boy examined his own freshly painted nails in a shade of green. Kim could be surprisingly sappy with his boyfriend, though he would deny it if asked. As Nathaniel got closer, he heard his boyfriend’s voice as he talked to Max.

“There we go.”, he was saying. “If you want me to do this again, just ask.”

“Thank you, Marc.”, Max said, blowing gently on his nails to dry them. 

Marc smiled politely, which grew bigger as he looked up and saw Nathaniel approaching him.

“Hey, Nath.”, he said, standing up. “You look hap- mph!”

Nathaniel had seized him bodily, spun him around and kissed him passionately on the lips, an impressive feat considering Nathaniel was much shorter and skinny as a stick. Surprised gasps and appreciative whoops issued from watching students; Francoise Dupont was a completely LGBT+ safe zone. Kim prepared to make a lewd remark, but a sharp elbow in the ribs from Max made him shut up. Nathaniel pulled away with a muffled pop, leaving Marc very dazed and his lips needing a new coat of lipstick.

“I-I think you sucked my soul out through my mouth!”, Marc gasped,

“Are you calling me a Dementor?”, Nathaniel asked, pouting.

“You drive me demented. Does that count?”, Marc replied cheekily.

“How dare you pun at me!”, Nathaniel scolded. “Just for that, I won’t tell you my momentous news.”

And he turned his back, folded his arms and affected the most huffish demeanour he could. 

“Awwww, come on, Nath!”, Marc whined, poking him. “Don’t be a big meanie!”

“Oh, all right then, I’ll tell you!”, Nathaniel exclaimed, switching back to glee.

The sudden switch from huffy refusal to eager acquiescence startled Marc, but Max let out an amused chortle.

“Wow.”, he remarked. “You folded faster than Majestia on laundry day.”

“He-he. Yeah.”, Kim chimed in, before looking at Max in confusion. “I don’t get it.”

Max clapped a hand over his eyes at Kim’s amazingly endearing yet frustrating bone-headedness. Marc and Nathaniel barely noticed, however.

“You know how we asked the editor if we might be able to get a little stall at the upcoming convention?”, Nathaniel asked Marc, whose eyes widened.

“He said yes?”, Marc asked, scarcely daring to believe it.

“No.”, Nathaniel replied.

“No?”, Marc asked, confused. “I thought you said you had good news.”

Nathaniel brushed his bangs out of his face, revealing both eyes gleaming with excitement.

“I do.”, he said. “We’re not getting a little stall…………. because we’re going to be among the guests of honour!!!!!”

Nathaniel bounced on the balls of his feet, ecstatic at having delivered the news, and then winced as Marc emitted a squeeing noise and leapt for joy, clapping his hands in delight.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!”, he squealed. “Seriously?! You’re not yanking my chain?”

Nathaniel smirked before leaning forward and yanking the length of chain attached to the left side of Marc’s belt.

“Yes, I am.”, he said. “But I’m also deadly serious.”

“Hey! No yanking the chain!”, Marc scolded, pouting.

Nathaniel reached into his bag and took out a programme for the upcoming sci-fi convention that had arrived that morning for him, opening it to a page marked with a rainbow bookmark (he loved making them because they reminded him so much of Marc).

“Here, check it out.”, he said. “We’re actually booked in for both signing and answering questions.”

“Wonderful, Nath! Just wonderful!”, Marc exclaimed as he read the page. “And it’ll coincide with the release of our new issue. We just need to fine-tune it a little.”

Max and Kim watched them gushing to each other, linking their own hands and smiling at each other. They were so sweet together.

“That’s so cool, guys!”, Kim exclaimed. “Mind if we tag along? We were actually going as well.”

“Really?”, Marc asked. “As what?”

“I’m going as a Jedi and Kim’s going to be a gladiator.”, Max replied.

“A Jedi? Cool!”, exclaimed Nathaniel, also being a massive Star Wars fan.

They headed to Ms. Bustier’s class, Marc regretfully having to gravitate away from it to head to Ms. Mendeleiev’s classroom, but before he did he exchanged one final kiss with Nathaniel on the threshold.

“Talk to you at lunch?”, he asked.

“Try and stop me.”, Nathaniel replied.

“Oh, you!”, Marc said with a coquettish giggle.

Marc walked off to his class, leaving Nathaniel to sigh wistfully. He spun on the spot, almost dancing to his chair, blissfully unaware of the stupefied looks he was getting, and then sat down with his chin resting on one hand, smiling lazily and humming something under his breath. Alix, his best friend (she’d wrestled the title back from Marc once they started dating because he couldn’t be both Nathaniel’s boyfriend and best friend), walked up, looking slightly creeped out of her mind.

“Good morning, Alix!”, Nathaniel said in a loud and cheerful tone. “Wonderful day, what?”

She looked even more creeped out.

“Who are you and what have you done with Nathaniel?”, she demanded.

“Nathaniel is just fine.”, Nathaniel replied. “In fact, Nathaniel is more than fine. Nathaniel has big news.”

Alix raised her eyebrows, then turned round and shouted at the rest of the class.

“Hey! Nathaniel’s got some big news!”, she called. “And speaking in the third person, so please listen to him so we can get it over with!”

Everyone gathered round with unusual enthusiasm, but then Nathaniel was rarely so exuberant so they were curious as to the reason why………. and ecstatic when he told them.

“Nath, that’s so wonderful!”, Marinette exclaimed, positively squeeing with excitement. 

“Awesome, dude! ‘Bout time your talent was recognised!”, Nino said.

“I’m so proud of you, Nath!”, Rose squealed, kissing his cheeks.

“Awesome.”, Juleka said in her quiet but friendly way.

Nathaniel was not usually one for the attention being focused entirely on him, but the positive reception was overwhelming and made him very happy. Nothing could possibly spoil this moment.

“Hello, everyone! What’s got everyone so excited?”

Well, almost nothing. The last to arrive that morning was Lila Rossi, Nathaniel’s seat partner and a girl who had lived the most extraordinary, dazzling and exciting life………… at least, according to her. Her cold green eyes scanned the room and fixed on Nathaniel, glaring at him for being the centre of attention. He tried not to glare back, mostly out of a sense of politeness. His admiration of the girl had taken a sharp nosedive once Marc had tipped him off that she was lying about virtually everything, something which still had him kicking himself for not noticing. He did still listen to her stories, but only because they were mildly interesting and he was curious to see just how over the top she could go with them.

“Nathaniel’s just been telling us how he and Marc will be appearing at the sci-fi convention to promote their comic!”, Rose gushed.

Lila’s eyes narrowed, then widened just as suddenly and she assumed a happy expression.

“Oh, that is so wonderful!”, she exclaimed. “I’m so happy for you! And I’m glad that they listened to me when I suggested you!”

Nathaniel went rigid as a statue, something that went unnoticed by the others as they all flocked immediately to Lila, suddenly heaping all the adulation on her for his accomplishment. Marinette and Adrien were the only exceptions, glaring at Lila and looking disgusted, respectively, but Nathaniel was not having it.

“Yes. I’m in good with the guy who organises it.”, Lila was saying. “He was struggling to find something to fill up the schedule and I suggested Nathaniel’s little comic book.”

“Oh, really?”, Nathaniel asked in a tone so acidic it could have melted concrete. “Did you now?”

His aggressively sarcastic tone caught them all off-guard, mostly because Nathaniel was never like that on the rare occasions that he actually spoke. Lila placed a hand over her chest, tears welling in her eyes.

“W-Why would you say that, Nathaniel?”, she simpered. “You……. you don’t think I’m l-lying, do you?”

And she dissolved into sobs that immediately had everyone comforting her, shooting disapproving glances at Nathaniel. He was about to retort when he noticed Lila’s completely dry eyes and the hint of a smirk behind her hands. She wanted him to play into her hands by making him look like the bad guy just for defending his accomplishment.

“No, of course not.”, he said. “But the thing is, I was phoned last night by the organiser and he never mentioned you.”

Lila jolted slightly, expecting a stinging accusation she could turn on it’s head rather than a sharp line of questioning, but she recovered quickly.

“Well, of course he didn’t.”, she said. “I asked him not to.”

“Because you didn’t want me to know?”, Nathaniel asked.

“Of course.”, Lila replied.

“Then why did you just announce it to the entire class when you didn’t want me to know?”, Nathaniel asked.

Marinette stifled a chortle and Adrien glanced at Nathaniel with a hint of admiration whilst Lila suddenly bore a striking resemblance to a goldfish. Everyone else, seconds ago fawning over her, were now looking slightly confused as they connected the dots. Nathaniel got to his feet as Lila tried to stammer an excuse.

“Lila, could I speak to you?”, he asked. “In private?”

She nodded and followed him out of the classroom, asking the others to cover for them if Ms. Bustier showed up while they were gone. Nathaniel led her down the stairs and into the locker room, where he faced her with folded arms.

“Not funny, Lila.”, he said. “Not funny at all.”

“What do you mean, Nath?”, she asked. “I was only-”

“Don’t call me that.”, he cut across her. “Only friends are permitted to call me Nath, and you’re not one.”

Lila gasped theatrically and then burst into tears…………. or at least that’s how it seemed. 

“Oh, give it a rest!”, he snapped. “I’ll cut to the chase. I don’t care for all your blatant lies and tall tales.”

Lila realised that the jig was up where Nathaniel was concerned and stopped her fake crying.

“Oh, bravo!”, she sneered, clapping sarcastically. “So you figured me out! And it only took six months!”

“I suspected you’d been lying to us after you tried to tell me you could hook me up with Stan Lee, despite the poor man having been dead for two years which is something any comic book fan would know.”, Nathaniel replied coldly. “And it was confirmed when Marc told me upfront that you were lying when I brought it up with him.”

“What do you want, a medal?”, Lila sneered disdainfully.

Nathaniel scowled darkly.

“If you have such low self-esteem that you have to lie to us to make yourself feel bigger than you are, that’s your problem.”, he said. “My problem is trying to leech off my accomplishments to pull more attention onto you.”

“I only tell people what they want to hear.”, Lila sniffed. 

“Well, I don’t want to hear you trying to take credit for the hard work of me and my boyfriend and diminishing our accomplishments.”, Nathaniel snapped. “That comic is the result of months of work between the two of us and I resent you claiming credit that you don’t deserve.”

“So what?”, Lila replied dismissively. “It’s not like you got hurt.”

Nathaniel growled angrily and his turquoise eyes flashed dangerously.

“My art means a lot to me.”, he said. “Don’t mess with it. Or my boyfriend.”

“Oooh, I’m so scared!”, Lila mocked. “Two fairy boys are threatening me!”

Nathaniel knew she was trying to goad him and the only thing that stopped him from giving into it was Marc’s smiling face floating in front of him.

“I’ll ignore that for the sake of being nice and the fact you’re clearly trying to get a rise out of me.”, he said icily. “But that comic is mine and Marc’s and there’s no way we would ever rely on or take artistic advice or help from a freeloading parasite like you.”

And he punctuated that with a sassy finger snap in her shocked face before stalking out of the room. Lila was left fuming with rage, only to get a very devious smile.

“But what if it wasn’t your comic?”, she said to herself. “Oooh, I’ll show you, Nathaniel!”

And with her devious plan in mind, she stalked out of the room.

=====================================================================================================

Nathaniel told Marc everything that had occurred that morning when he met him for lunch, noting with amusement that Marc turned different shades of red based on the emotion he was feeling; strawberry red when he was embarrassed, hoodie red when he was flushed and chili red when he was angry. Chili red was in fashion right now and Nathaniel idly wondered if Marc’s cheek would be the same temperature if he kissed it.

“Why that little…………… perfume ad!”, Marc spluttered.

“Perfume ad?”, Nathaniel asked, wondering where that came from.

“Sorry. Marinette was telling me about how Jagged Stone was ranting to her last night about XY.”, Marc replied. “Apparently that’s his favourite insult for him.”

“I suppose that’s accurate.”, Nathaniel conceded. “XY spends more time securing advertisements than making music. Poor excuse of an artist.”

“Oh, yeah, completely.”, Marc agreed. “So, back to this Lila girl. She really tried to claim that she was responsible for us getting that spot?”

“Yep.”, Nathaniel replied, popping the ‘p’. “The moment she heard about it, first thing out of her mouth was how happy she was that the organisers listened to her……… even though she couldn’t even tell us his name.”

“What a harpy!”, Marc exclaimed. “Trying to sponge off our achievements! Absolute worst thing you can do!”

“Yeah, I called her a freeloading parasite then snapped my fingers under her nose.”, Nathaniel replied, who had a secretly sassy side to him.

“Ooooooh, harsh!”, Marc exclaimed. “One hell of a burn!”

“Completely.”, Nathaniel agreed. “Now let’s get to work and finish off these last few pages for the next issue.”

They were both quiet and committed the instant they resumed working, all focus entirely on the pages of their comic. They were so absorbed in their work that they didn’t notice a certain Italian girl spying on them with narrowed eyes and a malicious smirk, eyes fixed on the comic sheets they were writing and drawing out. Because of Nathaniel’s little outburst that morning her hold on the class had begun to slip as they questioned her involvement in the convention spot, not helped by Marinette “helpfully” pointing out a few other inconsistencies in past stories. But she had a genius plan to make sure Nathaniel learned his lesson not to mess with her, as well as warning Marinette of what she stood to lose in the end. All she needed to do was get her hands on what they were sketching. 

“And…….. done!”, Nathaniel finished with a flourish.

“Me too.”, Marc said, dotting the final sentence. “I think we made good time on this issue.”

“I agree.”, Nathaniel replied. “Shall we celebrate later with ice cream at Andre’s?”

“You read my mind.”, Marc said.

“One of my many talents.”, Nathaniel replied.

Lila grimaced in disgust as the two flirted with each other. True love repulsed her, but it had had it's uses for her in the past. She checked her watch and realised she was running out of time. Marc and Nathaniel had taken sandwiches out of their bags and were eating, chatting to each other, and she saw the coveted pages sticking out of Nathaniel’s bag. Her eyes scanned the room and a plan came to mind. Taking an eraser out of her bag, she lobbed it across the room and it hit a pot of paintbrushes, knocking it over and causing a chain reaction of other objects crashing to the floor. Marc and Nathaniel, the only ones in the room, jumped to their feet at the racket before running over to inspect and clean up the mess. So engrossed in this task were they that they didn’t notice Lila slip into the room, grab the recently completed pages of their next comic issue out of Nathaniel’s bag and stuff them into her own before slipping out again, smirking nastily at the thought of ruining the duo’s comic career. She really was a spiteful, cruel creature.

Nathaniel did not discover the missing pages until later on that night, sending him into a minor panic that Marc only barely managed to talk him out of, assuring him that they might just have left them behind in the art room. It was a rare reversal of roles, as Marc had inherited his cousin Marinette’s tendency to panic and overreact with visions of doom in times of strife, but it calmed Nathaniel down despite a nagging doubt in the back of his head; he was sure he’d put the pages in his bag, and the art teacher, Mr. Ceresa, would certainly have contacted them if he’d left them in the art room. He tossed and turned for hours before falling into a troubled sleep and woke feeling decidedly far from well-rested. After a quick breakfast, he phoned Marc and asked him to meet him at school so they could search the art room; though it was a Sunday, Mr. Ceresa didn’t object to students coming in if they wanted to finish something, though not without letting him know in advance. Marc and Nathaniel practically turned the place upside-down, becoming increasingly frantic as the vital pages failed to turn up. This threw their whole schedule out of whack; those pages were half of the next issue and redoing them would take weeks, delaying the release of the next issue and probably upsetting their editor and many of their fans. 

“Nath, what are we going to do?!”, Marc asked, wringing his hands fearfully. “This upsets all our plans!”

“Don’t worry, rainbow.”, Nathaniel replied, taking his boyfriend’s shaking hands in his own. “We can fix this. I’ll phone the editor and let her know about what’s happened. There will be upsets, but we can get through them.”

After making sure that Marc was sufficiently calm, Nathaniel took out his phone and dialled the number of their comic book editor, Lisette Lefour, trying not to betray his own nervousness. Lisette was not exactly demanding, but she had high standards and was very forbidding. 

“Yes, speak.”, her voice snapped as she answered the phone.  
“Ms. Lefour, it’s Nathaniel Kurtzberg, of the Ladybug comic.”, he replied. “I’m calling to tell you that there’s a bit of a problem with our comic.”

“I’ll say there is, Mr. Kurtzberg!”, Lisette’s voice snapped angrily.

“I’m sorry?”, Nathaniel replied, confused. 

“Don’t play the fool with me, boy!”, Lisette said. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do!”

“Explaining?”, Nathaniel asked. “We’ve been searching for these missing pages for hours and- wait, how do you know about the missing pages?”

“Um, maybe because your real author and illustrator just showed up claiming that you’ve been stealing her work and claiming credit for it!”

Nathaniel went rigid.

“What?”, he asked. “What do you mean, our real author and illustrator? I’m the illustrator and Marc is the author.”

“Well, she’s got some certain pages pertaining to your next issue.”, Lisette replied.

“The missing pages!”, Nathaniel exclaimed. “Hold on, she? Who is she?”

“Lila Rossi.”, Lisette replied. “Ring a bell?”

Lila! Of course! Now it all made sense! That thing with the jar falling over yesterday had been her, distracting them so she could nab the pages and pass their hard work off as her own. His vision turned red, rage filling him, and he squeezed his phone hard enough that it actually creaked in protest. 

“Yes, Lisette.”, he replied in a mostly even voice. “That does indeed ring a bell.” 

More like tolled a bell, he thought to himself. Tolled a dull, foreboding funeral march. 

“She’s also got her lawyer with her.”, Lisette continued. “You’d better get your little butt over here quick, and have a very good explanation.”  
Nathaniel’s artistic brain was going a mile a minute, conjuring up vivid scenarios involving Lila and various agonising death traps. Just as he was contemplating the pros of burying her alive with a swarm of ravenous beetles vs those of firing her out of a cannon into the sun, he hit upon it.

“We’ll be over there as soon as possible.”, he said. “Just let me collect a mature adult to accompany us.”

“You’ve got half an hour.”, Lisette snapped.

“Noted. See you soon.”, Nathaniel replied.

He hung up, breathing like an enraged bull.

“So, what did she say?”, Marc asked nervously.

“Oh, nothing much.”, Nathaniel replied. “Just that Lila apparently showed up with our missing pages claiming to be the entire creative team behind our comic, from whom WE’VE been stealing credit.”

Marc’s reaction was an interesting combination of shock and rage, consisting of stomping back and forth whilst swearing up a storm in several languages. This went on for about five minutes before he ran out of steam and paused for breath.

“Why that little………….!”, he said, struggling to think of a foul enough word he’d yet to use.

“Perfume ad?”, Nathaniel teased.

Marc glared at him.

“I’m glad you’re finding all this funny, Mr. Wise Guy!”, he said. “We’re facing the loss of something we’ve devoted months of our lives to to a foul little thieving liar!”

“I know.”, Nathaniel replied. “I’m as angry as you are, but I’m channeling it differently.”

“Into what?”, Marc asked. “A brilliant plan to get us out of this or to ensure Lila dies painfully?”

Nathaniel smiled, a crafty smile that Marc had never seen before and which was simultaneously terrifying and arousing to him.

“Both.”, he said. “I just need to make a quick phone call.”

=====================================================================================================

Lila Rossi was feeling very smug indeed as she sat in the editor’s office, her mother’s lawyer next to her. The man was a bit confused, especially because she had instructed him not to tell her mother anything about this even though she was the one who actually paid him, but she assured him she had all the evidence he needed and anyway, all she needed was for him to be there and present his law credentials. Businesspeople were always terrified of lawyers and this one was no exception. All Lila had had to do so far was show the pages she’d “appropriated” and shed a few tears and sob stories about how she’d thought she was being given credit but the two boys were using her work and the woman had bought it hook, line and sinker. The two boys would probably fold like paper because she had all the proof she needed and their pathetic little comic would be ruined. Lila didn’t really care about the small fact that she had no artistic talent whatsoever, planning on claiming to the comic’s fans that she was too traumatised and upset to continue with it. After all, it was about Ladybug! Ugh! Lisette, the editor, was sitting opposite her tapping one finger impatiently off the surface of her desk when her phone rang with a message from her secretary, informing her that Marc and Nathaniel had arrived.

“Good, send them in.”, she snapped. “Let’s get this over with quickly.”

Lila couldn’t resist a smug look at Marc and Nathaniel as they entered the room. Marc looked like he wanted to kill her with whatever he could get his hands on (his eyes lingered longingly on a rather sharp-looking fountain pen set on the desk), but Nathaniel was almost irritatingly self-assured. Behind them came a small, dumpy lady wreathed in a ridiculous amount of shawls, beads, bangles and scarves, eyes blinking slightly foolishly behind a pair of round spectacles with lenses so thick that her eyes were magnified to ten times their size, giving her the look of a demented, glittering owl. She smiled and waved, one hand clutching a massive handbag.

“Hello there.”, she said, in a twinkling voice.

“Who is this?”, Lisette asked.

Nathaniel took a seat, followed by Marc and the lady who looked around her in amazement; clearly some dotty old biddy who barely got out, Lila thought dismissively.

“This is my aunt.”, Nathaniel said. “Since we’re both minors we thought it would be best to bring along an adult, and she was in town for a visit.”

“Visiting from where? The loony bin?”, Lila muttered under her breath.

Nathaniel heard her and shot her a deadly glare, but Lila remained unruffled. There was nothing the boys could do to her anyway.

“Right.”, Lisette said. “Well, if we could get down to business.”

She sat herself down behind her desk, observing the two parties.

“So, you all know why we’re here.”, she said. “Ms. Rossi here alleges that the work undertaken by Marc Anciel and Nathaniel Kurtzberg, creators of the popular Ladybug comic book, is in fact her own work stolen and used by the latter two. Ms. Rossi has already provided a sheaf of pages intended for the next scheduled issue as proof.”

Lila burst into loud, false wails, covering her face and shakily peering at Marc and Nathaniel.

“How could you do this to me?”, she sobbed. “I thought we were all friends and yet you stole from me! You used me!”

Marc’s fists clenched and a muscle twitched slightly in Nathaniel’s cheek, but otherwise they showed no outward reaction. Nathaniel’s aunt sat slightly behind them, humming absent-mindedly to herself and apparently lost in her own little world. Nobody paid the slightest bit of attention to her.

“Ms. Rossi, please, comport yourself.”, Lisette said, missing the glare Lila shot her in response. “Boys, do you have anything to say in reply?”  
Marc had plenty he wanted to say but, to paraphrase The Wizard of Oz, “being a Christian, I just can’t say it!”. Actually he wasn’t a Christian, not really, but he just loved The Wizard of Oz so to hell with it. Nathaniel had told him in no uncertain terms, however, that he should be the one to do the talking and the tone of voice, combined with the devious gleam in his turquoise eyes, had convinced Marc to keep silent. Nathaniel cleared his throat.

“She is lying, Lisette.”, he said. “Those pages were drawn and written by Marc and myself yesterday. She has never been involved in our comic in any way.”

Lila increased the volume of her sobbing in response, netting an uncomfortable shifting from her lawyer, an irritated glance from Lisette and contemptuous looks from the two boys.

“I can’t believe you!”, she wailed. “Why would you continue to lie instead of just telling the truth?”

“I could say the same of you.”, Marc muttered.

“Ms. Rossi, I understand this may be distressing, but if you cannot calm down then I will ask you to leave until you can.”, Lisette said.

Lila scowled behind her hands but ceased her act.

“If what you say is true, boys, how did the pages in question come to be in my client’s possession?”, her lawyer asked.

“I’m positive she stole them out of my bag the previous day whilst we were distracted.”, Nathaniel replied.

“Can you prove this?”, the lawyer asked.

“Unfortunately, no.”, Nathaniel replied.

Lila folded her arms smugly, but Nathaniel wasn’t done yet.

“However, I do have a way to prove that the pages are in fact our work and not hers.”, Nathaniel said.

“And what is that?”, the lawyer asked.

“Simple.”, Nathaniel replied. “See which of us can draw it and whose handwriting matches those in the comic.”

The smile slid off Lila’s face faster than leather shoes off a waxed floor. Nathaniel took the opportunity to shoot her a truly evil grin before turning to Lisette and smiling sweetly.

“Wouldn’t that prove it?”, he asked.

“It would, actually.”, Lisette replied, looking a bit annoyed at the fact she hadn’t thought of that at the start.

“Are you really sure that’s necessary?”, Lila blurted, trying not to sound as nervous as she was.

“Why would you ask that, Lila?”, Nathaniel asked sweetly. “After all, isn’t it your artwork?”

Lila felt cornered. She gripped her wrist as though in sudden agony.

“OW!”, she cried. “I think my arthritis is acting up again! I just got this terrible pain in my wrist!”

“I thought you were right-handed.”, Nathaniel remarked.

“I am!”, Lila replied.

“Then why are you holding your left wrist?”, Nathaniel asked.

He was enjoying himself more than his conscience told him he should, but his art mattered to him more than anything else in the world (except Marc, of course) and anyone who messed with it tended to find life…………. unpleasant. 

“Right.”, Lisette said, with the air of someone wanting to get to the end of this. “Nathaniel, you go first. Draw.”

She set down a blank piece of paper and a pencil. Nathaniel picked it up, turned the paper towards him and began to draw. Normally he preferred to go as slowly as possible so it was finely detailed but time was not on his side. Still, it passed muster when he finished it in ten minutes. Lisette compared it to one of the missing pages, scanning both, then glared at Lila with a look that hinted she wasn’t far from giving her an earful.

“Ms. Rossi, your turn.”, she said in a tone of forced calm.

Nathaniel wished he had popcorn as he sat back and watched Lila struggle. Her finished result amounted to slightly better than stick figures. Lisette’s nostrils flared in a manner reminiscent of a dragon, to the extent Nathaniel half-expected smoke to come out of them. Lila was trying not to wilt under her lawyer’s death glare, the man having realised he’d been had.

“Should I even bother with the handwriting verification?”, Lisette asked. 

“Please. I want to savour every moment of this.”, Nathaniel replied.

Marc, smirking deviously as well, wrote down his name and a few sentences on the piece of paper before sliding it over to Lila for her to write. As expected, her writing didn’t even come close to matching his. She just sat there, glowering at them all, but not nearly as much as Lisette.

“I do not appreciate being taken for a fool, Ms. Rossi!”, she snapped. “Not in the slightest!”

“Oh, fine, so I nicked their work!”, Lila replied. “So what?”

Her lawyer glared at her.

“So what?”, he asked in clipped tones. “You stole someone else’s officially published works and tried to pass it off as your own. That’s plagiarism and theft of intellectual property. They can sue you for that!”

“And we intend to.”, Nathaniel interjected. “Isn’t that right…………. Aunt Rosalie?”

Lila’s lawyer’s reaction to that name was priceless. The poor man turned the colour of milk and actually seemed to slump in his chair.

“R-Rosalie?”, he whispered. “Y-You don’t mean……….?”

“Rosalie Feldman? Yes, he does.”

Nathaniel’s aunt, whom nearly everyone had forgotten was still in the room, had got to her feet. Despite the multitude of overly colourful shawls and dangling bead necklaces, she stood with the dignity and grace of a queen and also the ruthlessness and lethality of a great white shark. Lila’s lawyer was actually trembling.

“Oh d-dear.”, he said. 

“Indeed.”, Aunt Rosalie said.

“B-B-But I t-t-thought you’d r-r-retired!”, the man stammered.

“Oh, I did.”, Aunt Rosalie replied. “But for my little nephew, I would kill.”

The man turned even paler. Marc leaned in to whisper to Nathaniel.

“Care to let me in on why your fortune teller aunt’s making him go whiter than a polar bear’s arse?”, he asked.

“My auntie was the most feared lawyer in Europe back in the day.”, Nathaniel replied. “She might dress like she’s lost her marbles but trust me, she’s sharp as a knife.”

Lila, who had not yet grasped the implications of her lawyer looking like a man locked in a cage with a starving tiger as he stared at Nathaniel’s aunt, chose to open her big mouth.

“I’ve got diplomatic immunity.”, she gloated. “My mother’s a diplomat at the Italian Embassy.”

“Is that so?”, Aunt Rosalie replied. “Good, I like a challenge.”

“It means-”, Lila began.

“Ms. Rossi, we’re already in a big enough grave without you lending a helping shovel.”, her lawyer interrupted through tightly gritted teeth. “Kindly shut your trap.”

Lila turned on the man with an angry look, one meant to remind him that he worked for her and should watch his step, but it failed as he was clearly more scared of Aunt Rosalie. She was a figure both revered and feared in the legal world, despite her retirement some years ago. Then her eyes fell on the pages she’d stolen from Marc and Nathaniel and a dark look crossed her face. Before anyone could react she had lunged forwards, seized them off the desk and, with a cruel smirk, tore them in half. Marc let out a noise like a mouse being trodden on and Nathaniel clutched his chest at the sight of their painstaking effort of weeks being destroyed in seconds.

“Oops!”, Lila exclaimed. “My Tourettes must be acting up again.”

“Why you little…….!”, Nathaniel growled.

“Calm down, Nathaniel.”, Aunt Rosalie said. “We can add property destruction to the list of charges.”

“There’s a list?”, Lila’s lawyer asked weakly.

“Oh yes, a long one.”, Aunt Rosalie replied. “Now, let’s go and have a little chat with this young lady’s mother.”

Lila’s mother was very surprised indeed when her bewildered secretary paged her to tell her that her daughter and lawyer were waiting outside the office with the creators of the Ladybug comic and one of the most feared names in legal history. Lila naturally attempted to spin a tale of lies to get herself off, but her mother was also suspicious as well as surprised and instead got the full story from her lawyer, who was a trusted family retainer and left nothing out. Suffice to say, she was furious.

“So let me get this straight, Lila.”, she said, pacing behind her desk. “You stole published works from one of your classmates and passed it off as your own simply because he called you out for trying to steal credit for his own accomplishment, roped the family lawyer into your silly little plot and then destroyed said works once you were exposed simply out of petty spite?”

“I-”, Lila began.

“Cannot be trusted to speak the truth, evidently.”, her mother snapped before turning to her lawyer. “Is what I said true?”

“From what I can tell, it is, signora.”, the man replied.

“Wonderful.”, Mrs. Rossi remarked, slumping heavily in her chair.

She turned her attention to the Kurtzberg party.

“So how do you want to settle this?”, she asked, resigned to the fact that, to use the common vernacular, this was gonna suck.

“You disappoint me.”, Aunt Rosaline remarked. “I was looking forward to a protracted court battle. Kind of miss the sensation of going for the throat.”

Mrs. Rossi raised her eyebrows in surprise as Nathaniel nudged his aunt.

“Auntie, we want to punish Lila, not her mother!”, he said under his breath.

Mrs. Rossi opened her handbag and took out a chequebook. 

“I presume you want some sort of financial settlement?”, she said.

“Mother!”, Lila exclaimed. “You aren’t serious?”

“Deadly serious, Lila.”, her mother replied, death glare burning into her daughter. “You stole from these boys and destroyed their work. Either I pay up willingly to heal that damage or get sued and pay through the nose.”

“But they can’t sue us!”, Lila exclaimed. “We’ve got diplomatic immunity!”

Mrs. Rossi gave her a withering look.

“Which does not shield you from punishment, my dear girl.”, she said. “And in any case, only I have it. You do not.”

Nathaniel tried to commit to memory the expression on Lila’s face when she heard that so he could draw it later (Alya bought the sketch for 15 Euros for her dartboard).

“I don’t?”, she asked. “But you’re a diplomat!”

“Junior diplomat, who possesses limited immunity that does not stretch to her family.”, Mrs. Rossi replied. “Not that I would let it protect you from punishment even if you did have it.”

She turned back to Nathaniel, Marc and Aunt Rosalie.

“Where were we?”, she asked.

“You were offering a settlement.”, Aunt Rosalie helpfully pointed out.

“Oh, yes.”, Mrs. Rossi remarked. “I can offer 5,000 euros. Any more and I start to struggle financially.”

This was a surprising opening offer, but mostly agreeable. Nathaniel, however, got that crafty gleam in his eye again.

“That does sound acceptable.”, he said. “However, I might have an alternative.”

“Which is?”, Mrs. Rossi asked.

“Does Lila have a trust fund? A savings account?”, Nathaniel asked.

Lila stiffened in horror, which told Nathaniel all he needed to know.

“Yes. She does.”, Mrs. Rossi replied.

“How much is in it?”, Nathaniel asked.

“3,000 euros.”, Mrs. Rossi replied, getting the idea.

“I see.”, Nathaniel said. “Would you be open to an offer?”

Lila opened her mouth but her mother held out a hand and glared at her in a way that screamed “One word out of you and you lose your tongue”. 

“Which is?”, Mrs. Rossi asked.

“5,000 euros is a respectable sum, and you seem a decent woman who does not deserve to lose money for the sake of your daughter’s actions.”, he said. “So my proposed offer is this: pay us the 3,000 in Lila’s account, then the rest can either come out of her allowance or she can get a job and make up the rest over time.”

Lila wanted to scream in fury and anger, whilst Marc was looking at Nathaniel with smouldering eyes and Aunt Rosalie was nodding in approval. Mrs. Rossi leaned back in her chair.

“I think that sounds fair.”, she said. “And who knows, maybe this will teach my errant daughter a lesson in life.”

Lila suddenly sprang up.

“FAIR?!”, she shrieked. “FAIR?! Why should I lose all my money to those two?!”

“Because our comic is an official publication, which we earn money from.”, Nathaniel told her. “Ergo, you owe us compensation for destroying our work and the time it will take to fix it.”

Lila turned on him in rage.

“You won’t get one stinking cent from me, you little………… faggot!”, she spat venomously, garnering furious looks from everyone in the room. “That money’s mine, and only I can get it.”

“On the contrary, Lila.”, Mrs. Rossi interjected. “It’s in an account in your name, but since you’re a minor it is in the control of your parent or guardian until you come of age. And that happens to be me.”

Another expression committed to memory (Marinette paid him 30 euros and a new custom pair of purple jeans for it), which was quite entertaining.

“But you can’t give them my money!”, Lila protested. “I’m your daughter!”

“Yes, you are.”, her mother replied tersely. “And as your mother, I have indeed decided to give them your money because of your actions against them. Perhaps it will teach you a lesson about consequences for the future.”

That was it for Lila. She threw the loudest, longest, noisiest, shrillest, most horrible tantrum you could ever imagine right there in the office (naturally recorded and sent to Alix, who lacking Alya’s journalistic integrity and Marinette’s moral sense, proceeded to post it online), but it made no difference. Her account of 3,000 euros was emptied to partially pay off the debt she owed to Nathaniel and Marc and she had six months of no allowance to look forward to to pay off the rest, having resolutely refused to get a job even though it would actually have given her spending money of her own. The whole story was naturally spilled to the rest of the school and this, coupled with the revelation of all of her lies, effectively destroyed her social life and rendered her a pariah. She was banned from all future activities and trips, given detention with Ms. Mendeleiev for six months (suspension was considered but they realised she’d just treat that as a holiday) along with piles of make-up work from the months she’d bunked off to do with the threat of expulsion if she didn’t (the only reason that one stuck is because her apoplectic mother threatened her with an especially strict military reform school in Italy) and fired from her position as a Gabriel model, with all her money earned from that given to Marc and Nathaniel as a bonus. To add even further insult, Hawk Moth also turned his back on her so she couldn’t even use akumatisation as a way to vent. 

By contrast, life had never been better for Marc and Nathaniel. The money given to them had been split evenly, 1000 each for Marc, Nath and Aunt Rosalie from the initial 3, and the rest was going into their accounts with the comic profits. The delay with the comic’s second half being destroyed actually worked out in their favour because the first half was done and, with a bit of tweaking and splitting the original issue in two, was turned into an even more popular cliffhanger. All of this they were relaying to the class in their favourite haunt, the art room. 

“Karma really loves you guys, huh?”, Kim remarked. “Lila got nothing but sour grapes and you get the lovely, sweetened juice.”

“Uh, yes, Kim.”, Marc replied. “Lovely metaphor.”

“Meta-who?”, Kim asked, confused.

This got him fond eyerolls from everyone, except Max who just gave him a lovesick look as he remembered when Kim said that on Valentine’s Day. Alix still didn’t understand why he loved Kim so much, but in his own words “there’s no accounting for taste.”

“So, you guys still going to the comic convention?”, Nathaniel asked.

“Yep.”, Max replied. “I’ve got my lightsaber all ready to go.”

He reached into his bag, took out a long silver hilt and pressed a button. With a loud snap-hiss, a bright green blade burst forth from within, humming softly as he held it up. People gasped, whooped and clapped at the display, until a thought occurred to Nino.

“Uhhh, Max, dude?”, he asked. “That isn’t a real lightsaber, is it?”

Max shut it off and put it back in his bag.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”, he replied teasingly.

Kim chuckled and pulled him into a hug, whilst everyone else exchanged nervous looks. If Max was capable of inventing a fully functioning lightsaber, they wondered if some kind of world-conquering mega death-ray was in the future.

“Uh-oh, speaking of sour grapes………”, Juleka said in an undertone.

Lila was standing in the doorway of the art room, looking very ugly. The class glared back at her with equal venom; they were nice people, but they did not take kindly to being lied to and manipulated for personal gain. Alya in particular looked ready to kill, and if looks could kill then surely Lila would have fallen dead on the spot or been turned into a statue. As it was, both Nino and Marinette took one arm and squeezed it, calming her from doing something violent and regrettable. Lila marched right up to the table, ignoring the others in favour of Marc and Nathaniel.

“I HATE you two!”, she hissed.

“Really? Tell us something we don’t know and find interesting.”, Nathaniel replied.

Her eyes flashed dangerously and her fists clenched.

“Enjoy your little victory.”, she said. “It won’t last and, mark my words, I’ll get you back for this! I’ll make you pay!”

Scoffs from several people told her they didn’t believe her, but it was Marc who actually responded.

“You have no power here.”, he intoned in an ethereal voice. “Now begone, before someone drops a house on you!”

Lila huffed angrily, turned on her heel and stalked out angrily as everyone laughed at Marc’s little performance. The moment she was out of the room, however, she glanced up at the sky nervously. After all when Hawk Moth was around, who knew? A house might actually be dropped on you!

“Stupid faggots!”, she snarled to herself as she descended the stairs and stalked across the courtyard. “Stupid - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!”

A large, heavy box had just crashed down right in front of her, splitting open at the seams from the impact and causing a number of pencils to fly out of it. On the front of it was stencilled the words “D. HOUSE STATIONERY SUPPLIES” in big black letters.

“Oops!”, called a voice from above. “Sorry about that! The pulley broke!”

A couple of workmen had been using a rope pulley to try and hoist the crate to the upper level, but it had broken just as she was walking by. Shaking at the near-miss, Lila heard another, more familiar voice call out above her.

“Hey, look! Someone did nearly drop a house on her!”

Kim was pointing and laughing, having come out to investigate the noise with the others. This prompted an uproar of laughter from the surrounding students (and even a few teachers couldn’t muffle a smile) as Lila tried to hurry out with what little dignity remained to her. Nathaniel glanced at Marc.

“You said that to her and then it nearly happened.”, he said. “Are you a witch?”

Marc smiled.

“Yes.”, he replied. “I put a spell on you, and now you’re mine.”

Nathaniel giggled at the corny antics.

“You don’t need a spell to make me fall in love with you.”, he said.

And they leaned in.

====================================================================================================

**Author's Note:**

> Now this was a fun one to write.
> 
> Nathaniel was the bigger badass in this but Marc deserved the last hit with that masterful parting shot. As for the box nearly flattening her, that was the work of Plagg and Tikki. Words have power and Marc's intonation was enough for Plagg to be able to cause it, though Tikki added enough of her own magic in time to prevent it from being a fatal squashing. Hey, nobody messes with their chosen and they really hated Lila.
> 
> Nathaniel's aunt is an original character of my own creation who might return in the future. She was a feared lawyer in the past and now dotes on her relatives, as well as being perfectly willing to help with any legal matters they're facing. Nathaniel is especially close to her and she adores Marc because she's got a multitude of sparkly scarves and things she can foist on him which he just loves. 
> 
> Lila remains essentially the same. Stealing the comic and trying to pass it off as her own work was phenomenally stupid because Nathaniel and Marc can prove it's theirs with their art skills. But as usual, Lila fails to foresee these consequences and wound up looking phenomenally stupid and paying through the nose for it. If the comic is published, it's also probably trademarked and copyrighted too, which would have landed her in a whole heap of legal trouble. They also probably earn a bit from the sales, so that was relevant too. 
> 
> Mrs. Rossi did not deserve to suffer for her daughter's crimes and Marc and Nathaniel are nice and kind boys, so they were prefectly willing to reach a compromise where Lila was the only one to get punished. Lila won't learn her lesson, unfortunately, but Mrs. Rossi avoids a costly lawsuit and protracted legal battle without having to personally lose a cent and the boys get a nice payout for their ordeal whilst Lila suffers. Sounds like a win-win to me.
> 
> As for Max and Kim, I adore those two and am completely convinced that Max at least has feelings for Kim given their interactions in "Dark Cupid". They might get a bigger role in a future installment, but for now enjoy. I get the feeling that the others are a bit nervous of Max because, as nice as he is, he is also prime supervillain material given his genius intellect and way with technology. And, yes, he did actually build a fully working Jedi lightsaber. How, I will leave to the imagination.
> 
> Next installment I have planned involves a............. unique take on the heavy salt fic. No more spoilers! Shh!


End file.
